Gymnaires head to Sunnydale
A quick recap of the team’s first trip
On September 13th, twenty-four athletically inclined individuals piled into vehicles and drove five hours in the easterly direction across the Nebraska border. The group: the UAU gymnaires. The destination: Sunnydale Adventist Academy in Centralia, Missouri. Upon arrival and settling into their assigned quarters, the gymnaires gathered and prepared to spend the weekend with the students of Sunnydale. Their intent was not only to teach gymnastics skills such as three highs and tumbling but to build community with the kids and staff.
The gymnaires consist of a tight-knit group of 28. There are 18 students, 7 support coaches, 2 assistant coaches, and 1 head coach. When most of us think of Gymnaires, we automatically think of gymnastics. This is not entirely the correct term for what the Gymnaires do. The correct title would be ‘large team acrobatic gymnastics’ -essentially acrobatics. In layman’s terms: cool acrobatic, tumbling, and gravity-defying stunts performed as a team. Over the course of this school year, the gymnaires will visit Colorado, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington, showing off hard-practiced skills to students and adults alike. This November, the team will pack up their acro-shoes and head down to Southwestern Adventist University for Acrofest. This is an event that is eagerly anticipated all over the country, and the gymnaires are no exception.
However, this first tour to Sunnydale was not a performance tour but more of a teaching tour, a clinic perhaps. Thomas McFarland, a freshman who recently graduated from Georgia-Cumberland Academy, shared how he was excited for this first tour. He was an Acroflyer at his academy and it was hardly a decision when he joined the team here at Union. His favorite part of the tour was teaching a group of boys how to do back tucks. He explained how it brought him joy to watch them try a new skill, work with them, give pointers, and see them complete their first backflips. Overall, Coach Matt Teller and the rest of the team considered the trip a success.
Coach Teller pointed out that teaching and performing are not the only objectives of these tours. The main purpose of each trip and event is to build community with the people they visit. This year, the Gymnair’s theme is Rise Up. The goal of this year, as they practice, perform, and interact with people, is to show the promise that Jesus gives us as well as the mission we must carry out after we have accepted His promise. Jesus rose from the grave and promised us that we could be a part of His kingdom, as well as help build it. This is the desire of the team: to reach out and build His kingdom, through flips and pyramids, community and union.
by Sami Hoffer